Process for loosening the skins of tomatoes and the like.



W. H. CHAPMAN.

PROCESS FOR LOOSENING THE SKINS 0F TOMATOES AND'THE LIKE.

APPLICATION nun APR. 25. 1911.

1,250,140. Patented Dec. 18,1917.

Inventor:

- STATES PATENT OFFICE.

W H. 0mm, 0! PORTLAND, MAINE.

PROCESS 1'03 IOOSENING SKINS 01' TOMATOES AND THE min.

ing at Portland, in the county of (lumberland and State of Maine, have invented cer' tain new and useful Improvements in Processes for Loosening the Skins of Tomatoes and the like, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a process and apparatus for loosening the skins of tomatoes and other like ve tables or fruits having thin and closely a hering skins so that the skins may be readily stripped o In the operation of canning tomatoes, it

has hitherto been practicallfy impossible to remove-the skins without rst eating or partially cookin I have found t at if the skin of the tomato is punctured by electric sparks sufficiently near together, the effect will be to form small holes in theskin which loosen it from the pulp, so that it may be readily peeled or stripped off. The heat from the spark apparently has the efiec't besides puncturing holes inthe skin to expand the air inside of the skin where the spark passes through and so detach the skin from the pulp. There are various forms of apparatus by which this process may be carried out but in the accompanying drawing, I have shown a simple form of mechanism which will illustrate a practicable way of carrying out the process.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 is a s1de elevation of the apparatus and Fig. 2 is a section on the line 1-1 of Fig. -1.

A comb conductor charged with a high voltage alternating electricity is' located adjacent to the tomato and the apparatus is so formed and manipulated that all POI? tions of the skin are presented to the discharging points.

The skin is thus thoroughly punctured and is loosened fromthe pu I According to the apparatus which I-ha e illustrated, for carry ng out the process, 1 represents a tomato stuck ona forked support or spindle 2 'ournaled'in the table 12 and slowly rotate by a suitable pulley 3, which is provided with ta belt (not shown) for efiecting the rotation.

Specification of Letters Patent. I v

Application fled April 25, 1917. Serial IoI'164,540-,

-The skin of the tomato is punctured by sparks from a 'comb point conductor. he're shown the conductor 4 is in the form of a semicircle inclosing half of the tomato the comb points 5 being radially disposed and pointing inward. As the tomato is turned substantially all of its surface isexposed to the sparks which are given off fligm the points 5 and quickly puncture the s n.

end of an arm 6 which is carried by a carria-ge 7 mounted on slides or ways 9. The carriage and the conductor easily moved from and towar tomato, allowing the same to be removed from the forked spindle after treatment. The conductor is electrically connected with a source of high voltage electricity capable of emitting sparks. As here shown, 1t is connected with an alternating current line with a commercial current of 110 volts connected with the primary of a transformer 10. .Through the transformer, the voltage is raised to about 12,000 volts capable of produein a spark of nearly one inch in length. he connection from the conductor 4 to the transformer is made through the carriage 7 by means of a Wire 13. A handle 8 is provided for sliding the carriage 7 back and forth to the tomato being operated upon. The holder on which the tomato is held is formed of metal or other conductor and is connected to earth by a wire 14.,

The number of alternations of the usual commercial circuit are 60 per second and the sparks will be emitted from each of the points substantially at this rate. The tomato may thus be rotated with considerable speed and the skin will be thoroughly perforated with holes. In applying this process to a canning factory, much more elaborate and rapid acting mechanism would be used but that illustrated is perfectly capable of carrying out the process.

While this process is primarily designed to be used for tomatoes, it is ca able 0 used with any fruits or vegeta les with thin, non conducting skins, as plums, apples, peaches, corn, etc. A

The body of the tomato is not affected b the current used which is preferably of hig voltage and low amperage. It is to be understood that the term comb point oon Patented Dem-=18, 1917..

mag thus be dt e The conductor 4 is mounted on the upper A being ductor includes any means of emitting tomatoes and the like preparatory to peelsparks. ing, which'consists of puncturin the skin 10 I claim I by a plurality of electric sparks ischarged 1. The process of loosening the skins from from a plurality of points, 5 tomatoes and the like, preparatory to peel- In testimony whereof I hereby afiix my ing', which consists of puncturing the skin signature. by electric sparks. 7' 2. The process of loosening the skins from WILLIAM H. CHAPMAN. 

